Fic: A Change of Clothing: G

[smallhobbit]

Title: A Change of Clothing
Form/Word Count: 444
Characters/Pairing: Dr John Watson, Mr Sherlock Holmes
Rating: G
Warning/Content: Watson sees Mrs Hudson wearing Mrs Turner's hat

 

“Holmes,” I called out as I returned to our rooms one autumn day, “I know I’m not the most observant of people, but I’m sure I’ve just seen Mrs Hudson leaving the house, wearing Mrs Turner’s hat and coat.  You know which hat I mean, the monstrosity with the cherries.  Surely she wouldn’t have bought one as well.  Ladies would never wear the identical hat to their friends.”

“Watson,” Holmes replied, emerging from his bedroom.  “You are indeed perfectly correct in your observation.”

I stared at Holmes in some surprise, for he was currently wearing one of Mrs Hudson’s hats, a rather more sober object than the one she had been wearing, together with a plain black coat of the sort our landlady favours when going to deal with tradesmen.

“Ah!” I said.  “For some reason Mrs Hudson is disguised as Mrs Turner and you are disguised as Mrs Hudson.  I presume this is for a case.”

“Indeed!” Holmes replied.  “And if I am not mistaken, the game is a-foot.”

He went downstairs to answer the knock on the front door.  I waited in our rooms, looking out of the window.  From there I could see a small man enter and Holmes leave.  I expected the man to come up to see me, possibly to wait for Holmes return.  Instead he did not appear.

Shortly afterwards Holmes re-entered the house; I suspect he had not fully closed the outside door.  Gently I eased our door open.  I could just make out Holmes entering Mrs Hudson’s kitchen, which was followed by the sound of a slight altercation. 

I hurried down the stairs, and found Holmes, still in the guise of Mrs Hudson, confronting the man, who appeared to have been in the process of secreting some small silverware in his pockets.

The man was saying, “Just let me past, lady, and no harm will come to you.”

It was clear Holmes wished to maintain his part, so I entered the kitchen and said forcibly, “That’s quite enough of that.  Empty your pockets.”

With some reluctance the man removed various items from his pockets, some of which I suspected had been stolen earlier in the day.

Then I turned to Holmes and said, “Could you please go and call for a policeman while I stay here.”

At that, the man leapt up and ran out.  I would have tried to pursue him, but Holmes shook his head.  “Quicker legs than ours will follow him,” he said.

“You don’t think he was working alone then?” I enquired.

“I’m sure he wasn’t.  But at least I now have a good lead.  We shall see where it takes us.”

 

Comments

[scfrankles]

But was Mrs. Turner disguised as Sherlock Holmes? A curious public demands to know ^__^

[smallhobbit]

Mrs Turner was staying out of sight - pouring tea and gin.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Hats make for a good disguise! Especially when it's distracting cherries.

[smallhobbit]

Exactly - the attention is focussed on the cherries, not the wearer.

[gardnerhill]

This guy seems like a petty thief that's been a thorn in the side of the housekeepers in that neighbourhood for a while. Kind of Holmes to assist in dealing with a rough.

BTW that was NEVER 100 words. Closer to 450. A quadrabble, if you will.

[smallhobbit]

Oh yes, there's been a spate of these thefts, so Mrs Hudson mentioned it to her lodger and he's now going to deal with it.

444 words to be precise - comes of copy and pasting and forgetting to change things.